With Arms Wide Open
by Regularamanda
Summary: Maybe the whole time they had been fighting just for the chance to be with the ones they loved. Fluff. Future. Did I mention fluff? Sam and Jack Established.


_Author's Note- This was written for Blacky Kitten for the Sam and Jack appreciation Secret Santa on GW. Another thanks to Twilight for the Beta! Fluff alert!_

**With Arms Wide Open**

He thought he had always known what they were fighting for through the years: the freedom of the Jaffa; the freedom of all people from Goa'uld oppression; the right to live life the way one wanted to without fear of persecution. Now he wondered if the reasons had been a lot closer to home than that. Maybe the whole time they had been fighting it had been for the next generation. Maybe the whole time they had been fighting just for the chance to be with the ones they loved. For Teal'c to be with his wife and son and for Daniel to have his wife back, and maybe…just maybe, for him to have just a _chance_ with the woman he loved.

It hadn't happened exactly as any of them had planned. Teal'c's wife had moved on, then years later had died, but he still had Rya'c and a beautiful daughter-in-law. Daniel's wife had been killed by Teal'c's own hand, but he had found a new family among the members of SG-1. For himself, well, he never thought that this would ever happen to him again, certainly not with her.

His arms wrapped just the slightest bit tighter around the green swaddled bundle in his arms. His eyes lovingly ran over the small, delicate features, and he knew that he was a goner.

Charlotte Hope O'Neill had stolen his heart.

"Hi, Charlotte," he whispered softly to her. "I'm your father…dad…old man." He said lovingly.

"You see the beautiful woman over there?" he said with a nod of his head to Sam who was sleeping peacefully on the bed. "Well…that's your mom…but I think you already know that, huh?"

There were so many things that he wanted to say to her. He wanted to promise that he'd keep her safe from harm and that he wouldn't let anything happen to her. He knew he couldn't promise her that though.

"We're really glad you're here now. And let me tell you…a couple of years ago I never would have thought that there'd be a 'you' in the picture."

Hell, he never even thought that that wonderful woman would be his. Sure, she was his friend and his second in command who loved to confuse him with techno babble, but for her to be his wife, to be the woman that he fell sleep with in his arms every night…that was more than he had hoped for even in his wildest dreams. He definitely had had some pretty wild dreams when it had involved her, he thought with a smug grin.

They had left it up to fate to decide if they would ever have a child. If it didn't happen then it wasn't meant to be, and if it did…well he had ended up walking around with a stupid grin plastered on his face for months. He knew that he wanted to have a little boy with her eyes or a little girl with her sass.

His eyes were drawn to the rustling on the hospital bed and his eyes immediately lit up. Sam smiled weakly and patted the edge of the bed. Carefully, he got up so as to not disturb the sleeping baby in his arms and walked over to her side.

"Sit here with me." She said softly. He nodded and she immediately scooted over to give him a bit more room. He placed Charlotte gently in her arms and then climbed in with her, his arms going around her shoulders to pull her closer against him.

"Hi, Carter. You okay?" he asked as he placed a kiss in her long blonde hair.

"Mmhmm. Still going to call me that?" she teased.

"You betcha," Jack answered with a smirk

Sam rolled her eyes and then glanced at Charlotte, brushing back a piece of down soft hair. "She's beautiful."

"You both are," Jack said, his voice horse with emotion.

Sam looked up to him and leaned in to kiss him. Jack hesitated, unsure.

"I'm not going to break if you kiss me for crying out loud," she responded with a lift of her eyebrow.

Jack smiled at her use of his expression and leaned in to kiss her. It was tender and sweet, reminding him of just how much she meant to him. His free hand gently brushed a strand of her hair out of her face before going down to cup the side of her face in his palm. Though he would have loved to deepen the kiss, he pulled back and settled for another kiss on the top of her head.

"I love you," she whispered.

Every time she said those three little works, his heart skipped a bit. He couldn't understand why she wanted him, why she had chosen him, but oh God was he ever happy she did. A knock on the door caught their attention and the door opened a crack.

"Uh…is it safe?" the voice asked tentatively.

"Yeah, Daniel. Come on in," Jack exclaimed.

Daniel and Teal'c quietly slipped past the door and walked over to the bed. Jack smirked when he saw Teal'c with the big stuffed pink bear and Daniel with a balloon that read 'It's a girl!'. Sometimes he wondered who had been more excited with the news that they were going to be parents: Teal'c and Daniel, or them.

"Hi, there," Daniel whispered softly to the baby.

"Charlotte, meet Daniel. He's actually geekier than he looks and this is Teal'c, who's actually a big softy inside," Jack confessed, smiling fondly at his two closest friends.

"Welcome, Charlotte O'Neill." Teal'c stated with a bow of his head. "O'Neill…I remember a piece of advice that I once received. To 'stick your fingers in your ears and hum loudly'."

"Thanks, T. Good piece of advice…the person that told you that must have been very wise," Jack retorted with a grin.

"Indeed."

"We're very happy for both of you. She's beautiful…hope she won't be a handful like her dad though," Daniel teased with a laugh.

"That seems unlikely," Sam groaned, throwing a look to Jack.

He put up his hands in defense. "She might be a handful but at least she'll have a sense of humor."

Charlotte's eyes opened slightly and blinked unseeingly at the people surrounding her. As Jack looked into his daughter's eyes, he couldn't remember the last time that he had felt quite this content. He had the woman he loved by his side and safe, his closest friends with him, and a new little life that held a world of promise. He knew the challenges that they would soon face, but for the moment things were peaceful.

There wasn't anything more that he could ask for than that.

* * *

_Author's Note- Title was taken from the song 'With Arm Wide Open' by Creed...because yes I did have that song playing repeadedly while I wrote this. Thanks for reading!_


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